This week at tables across the country friends and families will gather to celebrate Thanksgiving. Whether we gather with large extended families, with a small group of friends, or even with strangers, it is worth considering what it means to celebrate as a community rejoicing, remembering, and reliving together.
We come together as a community around the table to rejoice. We rejoice in the company of one another, in our friendships, and in the blessings that we share.
We come together as a community to remember. We remember those who are unable to join us this year. One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions as an Army officer was serving our Soldiers in the dining facilities. This small remembrance that we were all away from a table joined us together.
We come together as a community to relive the experiences of our community in our stories. As we share our stories, we pass traditions from one generation to the next and from family to family.
As we come together this week, let us rejoice with those who gather with us, remember those who are absent, and relive the stories that form and shape us regardless of the table around which we gather.